type: timeline_event
The Government Accountability Office released a scathing report documenting that the Department of Education spent between $28.5 million and $38 million compensating Office for Civil Rights staff placed on administrative leave between March and December 2025, costing nearly $1 million per week. The GAO report (GAO-26-108320) was published on January 29, 2026 and publicly released on February 2, 2026, in response to a request from Senator Bernie Sanders. The report found that in March 2025, the Trump administration attempted to fire more than half of OCR's civil rights attorneys and staff as part of a broader reduction-in-force, issuing RIF notices to 299 of 575 OCR employees and closing seven of twelve regional offices.
The GAO report revealed that from March to September 2025, OCR received over 9,000 complaints of alleged discrimination but resolved over 7,000 cases, with approximately 90 percent dismissed rather than investigated. During this period, the caseload increased by an average of 98 cases per week while affected staffers remained on paid leave unable to work. The administration rescinded the RIF notices in early January 2026 and reinstated employees to their positions. In December 2025, the Education Department brought back 85 OCR employees, though initially stated remaining cuts would proceed before ultimately rescinding all RIF notices in January 2026.
The GAO recommended that the Department of Education estimate the full costs and savings associated with the RIF and reorganization actions, noting that without fully accounting for costs and savings and documenting analyses, the department lacks reasonable assurance that its actions achieved stated goals of reforming the federal workforce to maximize efficiency and productivity. Kimberly Richey, appointed by Trump to run OCR, rejected the recommendation in a written response, arguing the topic is "moot" because RIF notices were eventually rescinded and employees returned to active duty. GAO continues to believe the department should conduct and document such analysis.
Senator Bernie Sanders, who requested the GAO investigation, condemned the waste: "Every child in America should be able to get a good education no matter where they live, what their religious beliefs are or whether or not they have a disability. Instead, the Trump administration fired half of the Education Department employees working to protect the civil rights of students and wasted as much as $38 million in taxpayer dollars by preventing investigators from doing their jobs." The report documents a pattern of ideologically-driven mismanagement that simultaneously undermined civil rights enforcement and squandered public funds. If all originally planned cuts proceed, only 62 OCR staff would remain—just 10% of the office's size when the Trump administration began.